Birth of a Rivalry: Michiyo Tenno vs Akane Tenno
Sisters A red haired child was sitting outside of a house, encircled by a mass of flames. She was moving her hands and the flames moved with her, as if they were puppets. "All right, Michiyo... one... two..." A gasp was heard, along with the sound of something plunging into water. Just a distance away, inside of the house, a dying ceremony was going on between two others who happened to be with the red-haired girl at the moment. One of them, an orange-haired woman was gently holding a younger female's head under what looked like purple water. After what was several seconds of waiting, she pulled her back out, allowing the girl to gasp for air once more. "All right, lemme get you a towel..." Stepping away from Michiyo for a moment, the mother leaned over and kneeled to pick up a dry towel folded neatly on the porch ground before tossing it to her. The piece of cloth landed right on Michiyo's face, and her hands immediately gripped it to wash it off. As she dried off her face, hair dripping with the purple dye, the mother went over towards her, hands glowing a bright blue. "Hold still, for a second..." Then, as she held them over Michiyo's hair, it began to dry a little faster and evenly, leaving nothing behind but a perfect violet coat. The woman slowly continued to move them over all of the areas of the top of her head, acting with skill and precision. Ahatake sighed. "Why're you dying her hair?" He asked irritatedly. "Tenno Clan members are supposed to have red hair." "And I have orange hair..." The woman retorted, smirking slightly and rolling her eyes. "Should I dye my hair red?" She motioned over towards Michiyo with a bit of mirth. "Besides, she'd complain if the color didn't match her clothing." As she removed the towel from her face, Michiyo revealed one eye open and one eye closed at Ahatake. "And I thought it would've been a bit more interesting to have some diversity, Tou-san." She said in a humored manner. "Stereotypical things like that tend to get a little stale." Ahatake laughed. "I'm going to check on Aka-chan." He said, and he walked off towards the front steps of the house, and watched with amazement at the ring of fire that surrounded her. "How exactly do you do that, Aka-chan?" Ahatake asked. Akane looked up, a broad smile on her face. "I'm not sure, Tou-san." She replied. "It just seems to come naturally. Did Onee-chan go ahead with that ridiculous hair dye?" She asked. Ahatake sighed. "Yeah. Why don't you come take a look?" Akane got up and walked with her father over to where her sister was standing, the fire ring still surrounding her. At that time, Michiyo had been tying her hair up in what was to be called a spiky bun. It was an unfortunate side-effect of Chiaki's chakra help to complete the dying process. In her early years, she would've fretted over it due to the fact it made her look less girlish. But now, she rarely paid heed to it, since she felt it made her "stand out" among the crowd. "Onee-chan..." Akane muttered in a resigned sort of voice. "Purple? Really?" "Yeah, really." Michiyo retorted mockingly, putting a smirk on her face as she looked over at Akane. "Too much red and orange hurts my eyes, I'm afraid." "Onee-chan you're stupid." Akane sighed, and the flame ring around her dispersed. "Instead of messing with your hair you should have gotten your chest shrunk!" The orange-haired couldn't help but frown out of disapproval at Akane's choice of words. "Akane..." She warned, ready to intervene in the discussion. "That's taking it too--" But, immediately, she was silenced with a laugh and a wave-off by Michiyo. "Ah, it's OK, Kaa-san! Nothing more than a little girl talk, that's all..." She assured. Turning back towards her sister with her usual smile. "I wouldn't be so talkative of my chest. When you get my age, you'll be having the same..." She chuckled softly. "Well... in your case... problem." "ONEE-CHAN YOU STUPID!" Akane shouted and hit her sister upside the head. Ahatake smiled. "Energetic." Was all he said. Akane's words, along with her action, made Ahatake's wife snicker to herself. It didn't help the bursting feeling of laughter in her gut when Michiyo suddenly started shouting, "Oh God! She hit me! I have amnesia!!!" She raised her fists up to her eyes in mock crying. "Oh, Akane-imouto...how could you be so cruel?!" She was a very good actor. "Tou-san, can I burn her?" Akane asked. "The gods require a sacrifice." "Aka-chan leave your sister alone." Ahatake sighed, trying not to succumb to laughter. "But Tou-san!!" Akane whined, her hands were already carrying wood and a sacrificial dagger. Chiaki immediately cocked an eyebrow. "I don't think the Will of Fire requires a sacrifice anytime soon, Akane-musume." She commented dryly, folding her arms across her chest. Immediately, upon the sight of Akane carrying such items, Michiyo stopped her antics and pointed an index finger towards her. "Sorry, Akane-imouto. But who knows what you've been doing with such a pointy object...and such hard pieces of wood..." "Oneeeee-chan..." Akane grumbled and she began to punch every bit of her sister she could reach. "This could be problematic." Ahatake said, though he smiled all the same. This time, however, Michiyo had been fully prepared. Shifting her feet into a slightly defensive stance and raising her arms, Michiyo raised and lowered her fists accordingly to her sister's make-shift attacks. Her expression was still one of her easy-going nature, even as she was being relentlessly assaulted. She did, however, move back a few steps as to give her some room to move around. Then, her palm reached out and caught one of Akane's last attacks. Without hesitation, she pulled Akane closer, bent over, and hefted the younger girl over her shoulder to toss like a lightweight. "Onee-chan let me down!!" "Ok..." Having held the girl high in the air, Michiyo immediately dropped her arms and stepped back, allowing Akane to collide with the ground with an abrupt THUD! In an almost innocent manner, she shrugged her shoulders. "That down enough for you?" "Onee-chan.." Akane growled. "Let's settle this properly. In battle." The innocence faded. Now Michiyo was looking at her fallen sister with slight surprise. "You're challenging me to a sparring match?" She questioned. "What're you going to settle with that?" "Our rivalry." Akane replied. "And if I win you do what I say for a week." "Oh, so we're going to wager?" If possible, Michiyo's expression was even more amused at Akane's challenge. But it made Chiaki frown slightly. Despite being their mother, she could never quite understand the concept of a sibling rivalry, though she did consider herself to hold one with her ANBU teammates. She was reluctant to let it take place, though a part of her couldn't help but look a bit interested in the challenge. "All right, then." Michiyo accepted, her crimson irises gazing into Akane's own eyes. "But if I'' win... you're going to have to start wearing purple for a week." She said mirthfully, but with some seriousness as well. "WHAT?? And disgrace the clan! You're a meanie Onee-chan!" "Too bad." Michiyo smirked. "Wanna retract your little condition while you still can... ''imouto?" Though her words were telling Akane to put it out, the tone in her voice seemed even more challenging. "No." Akane replied. "Now let's get this show on the road!!" Battle "Very well, then..." With one hand on her hip, and the other limp at her side, Michiyo calmly strolled out to look into the sky. She almost let out a sigh of relief: today was a rather cloudy day, though hopefully not at the point to rain. As she took her first step outside, she took a look back towards her parents to give them a squint-eyed smile. "Kaa-san, Tou-san, will you be watching?" She asked politely. At the question, Chiaki put on a rather calm and stoic expression. "Eh...sure. I suppose we got time to kill..." She muttered. Ahatake yawned. "Yeah, I left Akiko in charge of business today anyway." Akane readied herself. If she won she could get her sister to do anything. The thought made her absolutely giddy. "Ikuzei!" She cried and jumped at her sister, fist raised. Calmly, Michiyo shifted once again into a barefisted defensive stance, eyes concentrated on her opponent, and body in a relaxed and controlled state. Akane's fist became coated in flames. "Fire Release: Blazing Punch!!" She swung her fist down. When Akane's fist came crashing down onto the ground, Michiyo straightened from her defensive position and leaped back to avoid being incinerated by the flames. As those walls of fire extended, she could practically feel the heat from their crackles of fury. It would be tough, having to hold back in order to refrain from an all-out battle. But Michiyo was willing to put such a risk on the line, as she was unwilling to use such jutsu in the midst of a sparring match. Akane coated her fist in flames again. "C'mon Onee-chan! Fight!!!" She said throwing another punch. One of Michiyo's eyes immediately closed. "Not with those attacks..." With graceful agility, she boosted her feet upward and jumped in a frontflip, her body moving in an arc over Akane's head. Her near hand reached over and found a strong grip on the back of Akane's shirt. As Michiyo finally landed on her feet, her arm lifted up, picking up her opponent with the force of momentum and strength behind it. With a grunt, she swung that very arm downwards, sending her sister crashing on her back into the dust. Akane hit the ground hard and she let out a shout of pain. She forced herself of, and threw a shuriken at Michiyo. Frowning slightly, Michiyo reached into her kunai pouch secured to her waist, pulling out a kunai knife with the hole of the hilt around her finger. With an upperhand toss, she threw it at the shuriken. They collided with a CLANG, falling to rest on the ground below. "Hey Mi-chan." Ahatake called out. "You do know if you easy on your little sister, this match won't even be worth watching." "Silly Tou-san..." Though her tone was dry, her teasing factor still remained in it. Reaching into her kunai pouch, she once again grasped the deadly ninja knife and raised it in front of her, a small smirk on her face. "Whoever said I was going to go easy on 'er?" "You're not using jutsu, which in my book means you're not taking her seriously." Ahatake replied. That's when Chiaki decided to speak up once more, raising her fist up to her mouth and clearing her throat. "Ahem... Ahatake, you're kind of interrupting." She muttered, putting on a pointed look in his direction. "If you keep quiet and watch, maybe you'll actually find something interesting, hm?" To the two daughters, she raised a hand to wave them on. "Go ahead, continue!" She called out encouragingly. Smiling a bit, Michiyo nodded briefly, before tossing the kunai knife up into the air, though not with her maximum force. Akane quickly drew 3 more shuriken and, coating them in flames, launched them at Michiyo. "Now I know you can do better than that!" Michiyo taunted, boosting her feet upwards in order to once again avoid the flaming weapons. "You say that I'' disgrace the clan with my appearance... but your fighting skills certainly aren't better!" "I'm a Genin!" Akane said indignantly. "That's no excuse..." Then, Michiyo raised her fingers into a crossed position, staring down Akane with half-lidded eyes. "Shadow Clone Technique." She whispered. But it wouldn't be herself that she was multiplying. ''TEEEER!! The sound of what seemed like arrows falling came to the four residents' ears. Chiaki's eyes widened in surprise as she looked up, only to see a hailstorm of kunai knives coming down on Akane, gleaming under the daylight. "Oh...damn.." Akane said, looking up and seeing the steel points of death hurtling at her. She jumped back repeatedly as the kunai slammed into the ground right where she'd have been moment's before. "Fire Release: Fireball Technique!" Akane expelled a huge amount of fire at the blades in the ground and her sister as well. Michiyo closed one eyes and raised her hands up, staring into the face of fire once more. She was smiling once more, even as the flame raced towards her. "Well, I guess you're right about being a Genin. That wasn't the best move you made..." As Akane had jumped back, she had inadvertantly jumped into more kunai, which indiscriminately impaled her upper torso and leaving several scrapes on the head/face areas. "Now, don't you think when wind blows rain in one direction... you head towards that same direction? That's the way my attack worked. I threw the kunai in a frontwards arc. If you had went forward, you would've been heading into the space that arc created, and there fore, you would've been safe from harm." She chuckled slightly. "You still have much to learn, Genin..." "So do you, Onee-chan." Akane said from behind her, a kunai poised at her sister's neck. The Akane that has been pierced turned into a long strip of wood. Substitution Jutsu... Sighing, Michiyo allowed her arms to raise up in a non-chalant shrug. "Of course, there's always the Substitution technique..." She resigned. "Just what I expected from you, imouto-chan." Akane removed the Kunai from her sister's neck and walked around her and punched her in the face. "You tried to frickin' kill me!" She roared. "Wierd." Ahatake murmured, smiling. "She reminds me of you." He said to Chiaki. Chiaki scoffed. "Only in that moment, Ahatake. I'' don't go crazy over shit-loads of food, now do I?" She retorted, folding her arms across her chest and smirking. Her eyes were on the two after she finished speaking. At the rather impulsive action, she couldn't help but chuckle in amusement. Now, Michiyo's expression was not one of pain, but one of surprise. Her head was tilted to the side at the touch of Akane's harsh hand, leaving a slight brush mark on her cheek. But it faded in a second, and she turned her half-lidded eyes to look down on her sibling. "Yeah... I tried to kill ya. Yer point...?" Her tone was rather taunting, despite its seeming boredom. Akane growled and jumped back, forming quick hand signs. "Petal Release!" She cried, and she was surrounded by pink petals. "You're gonna be going to the hospital after this is over Onee-chan!" Michiyo folded her arms and shook her head sagely. "Tsk, tsk... that won't be enough, Akane-imouto. You really wanna defeat me? Come at me like you wanna kill!" She said back, raising her head up to look through the swirling torrent of petals and into her sister's eyes once more. Akane raised her hand and thrust it forward, sending petals hurtling towards her sister, some ripping into the ground as the flew. Taking in a content sigh, Michiyo closed her eyes and mentally prepared herself, all of her senses active. Her next movements would take precision and accuracy in order to avoid injury, along with constant practice. In training with her own father, she had to go through the exact same thing, having suffered time and time again bruises and slashes for failure. But this time, she was fully prepared. With a step forward into the air, her figure abruptly vanished, then re-appeared in a spacey area. When those petals kept coming, she kept up her vanishing and appearing act, each time ending her teleportation with a rather artistic pose. It was her own counter to their clan's power, a form of dance that had to be perfected in order to save the user from death. It almost seemed as if she was dancing with death itself. Akane's expression was one of fury. ''"Petal Release: Blizzard Blossom!" She used both hands to make complicated hand movements, and the amount of petals increased in quantity and speed. She controlled them flawlessly, as if they were her puppets. With every step that she took, Michiyo was getting closer to her target, to the point of where she was in range to attack. It was time to act. Her hands moved in patterns as she continued to dance elegantly, and when she finally got to the last seal, she vanished once more. But it would not be in front of her opponent's sight. Her presence gripped Akane's back tightly, her aura bringing in a chill along with it. Her ears could decipher the whispering voice's words as they haunted the skin... and they weren't the ones of conversation. "Fire Release: Great Fireball Technique." It wasn't long, before she felt the intense heat from behind her... "Petal Release: Blossom Shield!" Blossoms erupted behind her, effectively blocking the massive ball of flame and Akane turned to face her sister. "Imma rip you, Onee-chan." She said sweetly, before a mass of petals surrounded Michiyo. "No!" That was when Michiyo's pupils shrank in shock, her expression matching. Sweat fell down her face, as she now saw all exits blocked. This time, she wouldn't be able to dance with death, for it now had her surrounded. Her lips only manage to whisper two words, audible enough for her sister to hear them. "You wouldn't." "I'm gonna try!!!" Akane cried and slammed both her hands down, and the petals closed around Michiyo, each a tiny blade intent on ripping her up. That was all that Michiyo saw... before she saw red, as intense pain filled her vision. She could see the blood gushing from the deep slashes the mass of petals were causing as they ran right through her. She could feel her very bone being seared in half, and her muscles alone unable to handle the strain. Without a chance to scream for pain, she fell onto the ground on her face, gasping heavily. Akane grinned as she called off her petals. "I WON!" She said grinning broadly. "I WON!!" Immediately, the feeling of her ankle being tightened was felt. Despite her severe injuries, Michiyo now had one hand latched tightly onto Akane's foot, a perfect smirk still on her features. Blood was trickling down her face, yet she still held a rather confident aura around her. "I don't think so..." She whispered, looking directly into her sister's eyes once again. She only said one other word. "Boom." That was all that was needed. BOOM! A vicious explosion consumed the fallen Michiyo, enveloping Akane in a mixture of flying rocks, dirt, dust, heat, and flames. The initial shockwave caused Chiaki to raise an arm up in order to shield her face, her hair billowing back. "Holy..." was all she could mutter, clearly stunned. The smoke took a moment to clear, but when it did, Akane was still standing, bleeding heavily but still standing. Her ankle was surrounded by petals, which apparently was the only thing that kept if from being blown off. She wiped some blood off her face. "I..wan..ted..t..wi.." She said before falling to the ground and losing consciousness. "I know, imouto..." Now the figure of Michiyo loomed over the fallen girl, slowly beginning to kneel. Her arms reached out gently to pick her up, careful not to deepen any of her wounds. "To win is to live, and to lose is to die. That's the way of the ninja, I'm afraid. So in that sense, I'm not surprised that you wanted to win. All shinobi do..." Her eyes squinted, and she put on a good-natured smile. "Don't worry, imouto. When you're ready, you'll be able to face me again... on even ground..." Slowly, she walked over towards her parents, particularly her mother who was looking on with a slightly impressed expression. "Kaa-san..." "Yeah, yeah..." Michiyo gently set her down, and now it was Chiaki's turn to kneel over Akane, hands hovering over the chest region. They began to glow a faint blue, signaling the process of healing beginning to take place. Ahatake grinned. "She did better than I thought she would have." He said, watching the healing going on. "I expected her to last a little longer though." "You both did a good job." Chiaki commented, putting on a grin of her own. "Akane's got a lot of talent and potential in her Petal Release. Some more years... some more training... and she'll be surpassin' you, musume." She brought her head to look upwards at Michiyo. "And you've got as much potential, which I'm sure will develop pretty soon. You know how to think, learn and react - factors that a shinobi needs to have in order for success. You'll definitely go far.." Michiyo chuckled. "Oh, Kaa-san... please don't flatter me, I'm not that deserving of it!" Akane's eyes began to open. "K..Kaa-san?" She muttered, looking at her mother. "Easy, kid...don't strain yourself..." Chiaki chided, slight beads of sweat coming down her face. As the horrible wounds faded to more duller ones, she winced slightly. "Woah... Michiyo certainly did a number on you, didn't she?" "Stupid..bomb.." "Don't worry, I'm almost done..." As the last of the wounds finally healed, they left only small scars that would fade over time. Chiaki was practially sweating bullets now, struggling to stand up and leaning against the nearby wall. Her back was using said wall as support. "Oh, God..." She gasped, closing her eyes and attempting to re-take back her lost energy. "I think I need some water..." Ahatake put his arm around her, helping her stand straight.. "C'mon let's straighten you out Chiaki." "Yeah, yeah..." Ahatake led her into the house and Akane sat up straight. "Looks like I lost.." She said miserably. "You just chose to fight me at the wrong time..." Her elder sister said gently, reaching over to place a hand on her shoulder. "Next time, I hope you'll be a little bit more careful when deciding whether you've won or lost." "Hey Onee-chan?" Akane looked up. "Yeah?" "Can I have a hug?" She asked. "Like when I was little and when I made mistakes, you always used to cheer me up with a hug." She smiled at the memory. She didn't need to say any more. Immediately, Michiyo's arms slowly embraced her younger sister in an affectionate embrace. "Heh...like this?" She asked teasingly, though she still had that gentleness in her voice. Akane smiled. "Yeah." She said, wrapping her arms around her sister in return. "Thanks Onee-chan. Tell you what. When I'm stronger than this, I wanna fight you again." "That's my girl..." Heartily, Michiyo laughed, reaching upwards to ruffle up Akane's hair. "I knew you wouldn't be so easy to give up!" Akane grinned. "I love you Onee-chan." She said. "Except when you're too busy to spend time with me!" She added. "Heh...that's nonsense!" With an arm moving upwards to wrap around Akane's shoulders, she took her gaze to the sky. She could see it now - the first speckle of raindrops that would eventually turn into a natural shower for the earth. Hell, it wasn't the sunset, or even the clear days of the afternnoon... but it would do. "I'll never be busy to spend time with you. Never." The End